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Two
poems from the German of
JOACHIM
RINGELNATZ
1.
TWO MOLECULES
Two
molecules sat still
quietly
on a mill—
and
they were watching the axle ropes,
and
they were lovers, and they had hopes,
and
no one, no one, pondered thereon
save
one man who wrote envelopes.
(translated
by Alan Marshfield)
2.
The World and the Wall
Uppity,
no respect at all,
the
World asked of the wise white Wall
(immense,
immeasurable, sans finis):
‘Where
is the seat of Reason in us?’
The
Wall thought all the question through
and
said, ‘Mate, up the arse with you.’
The
World has reeled and wheeled upon
itself
since then light-headed, done
like
a chicken on a roasting spit—
twisting
to see which damned way went
its
fundament, its fundament.
(translated
by Alan Marshfield)
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